A new home
by lignocainer
Summary: A 'when Howard met Vince' story
1. Chapter 1

Howard sighed as he hoisted the last few items out of the box. It felt like he'd been unpacking for hours and he still hadn't got even halfway through the mountain of bags and boxes piled against the unfamiliar walls which, he noted with a frown, were covered in the most hideous faded floral paper. Still, he conceded, it wasn't all bad. The room was twice the size of his old one, back home in Leeds, and the huge inbuilt wardrobe was a definite improvement on the 3/4 sized child's one that his parents had been promising for the past 4 years to replace. Picking up the strange looking coconut shell toy doll which, despite being 12 years old, he still hadn't plucked up the nerve to throw away, he cradled it to his chest.

"Well, Milky Joe, looks like me may have ourselves a home here."

He placed the doll on the window ledge and looked out, the streets a mass of tall grey buildings, so different from the rows of quirky back-to-backs and open fields of the small village he had, until recently, called home. Not that he had seen much of his home in the past year, having spent the majority of his time in Spain, while his mother tended to his dying grandmother. At first he had argued with his parents, begging them to let him stay back in Leeds with his father but they had refused, blaming his father's long work hours and frequent business trips. Looking back, he was glad they had insisted he accompany his mother, the poor woman had seemed on the verge of exhaustion and emotional breakdown, seeing her own mother fade away before her eyes. In the end, it was a relief when she finally passed away, putting an end to the many months of suffering they had all endured. Cancer was, he thought to himself moresely, a really vile disease.

All the time away from England also hadn't done much for his education. Although he'd attended the local school, it had only really covered the very basics and although he'd previously been a pretty much straight-A student, on finally returning to England, he'd found himself hopelessly behind the other pupils. Being only 1 month from the end of the year, his school had suggested, much to his horror, that he repeat the year and no amount of desperate pleading with his parents would change their minds about this. In a way, it was lucky that his dad's company had decided to close their Leeds office and ask all the staff to relocate to London as it meant that at least he wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of all his previous schoolmates (in the loosest sense of the term, Howard had always been kind of a loner) knowing that he'd been held back. New city, new start. Howard tried to think positively but in truth he was petrified.

"Howard, honey, why don't you go outside and get some fresh air before your dinner's ready? Do a bit of exploring while it's still light. You've been stuck up there all day and food won't be done until six."

Grudgingly, Howard agreed. His mother was right, in the three days since they had moved there, he had barely left the house, spending the time helping his mother unpack and reassemble furniture as his dad had stayed behind in Leeds, finalising their house sale there. Still, he didn't mind admitting he was a little bit scared of going out there. How would the people of London take to the shy and softly spoken northerner who had always been a bit of an outcast?

He tugged on his worn old trainers (his mother had insisted he save his new pair until school started) and grabbed a jacket, shouting a quick goodbye, and headed out into the unfamiliar streets. Allowing his feet to lead the way, as he didn't really know where he was going, he was pleasantly surprised when, ten minutes later, he inadvertently arrived at the site of his parents new allotment. This had been his father's one demand, when looking for a new place to live, if they couldn't have a house with a large garden, like their Leeds home, then he insisted on somewhere with allotments nearby, so that he would still be able to devote time to his one passion outside of work, gardening. Each of the three times they had viewed the house before finally agreeing to buy it (his grandmother's inheritance money had meant that they didn't have to wait for a sale on their old home before putting in an offer), his father had insisted that they also view the allotments and their particular plot of land had been selected even before the house purchase had been agreed. It took Howard no time at all to recognise his father's new 'second home', the mounds of earth overgrown with weeds and the tiny dilapidated shed clearly having seen better days. Nevertheless, Howard felt a sense of peace here and as he picked his way carefully through the long grass and dandelions, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about the hours he and his dad could spend together here, making the place looked loved again.

As he approached the shed, he was stopped in his tracks by sounds coming from inside. Someone was inside their shed? His heart pounding, he tiptoed closer, wishing he was braver than he was. There was what sounded like muffled shouting, coming out of there.

"Get off, go away, leave me alone," a young voice cried out, clearly distressed.

Trying to slow his breathing, Howard edged closer. He didn't know how many people were in there, the shed barely seemed large enough to contain more than a couple of people, but whoever was in there was clearly being scared by someone. Crouching by the window, Howard tried to glance inside, but the old glass was opaque with dust and the shed was dark inside.

"No, please, don't….. STOP," squealed the voice, breaking into sobs.

Noticing the door was slightly ajar, Howard pressed his eye to the tiny gap, frowning in confusion. There was no-one inside except a tiny figure curled up in the corner. No-one attacking anyone. Feeling understandably braver, he pushed the door wide open, to let the daylight stream in, to further prove there was no-one else lurking in the shadows. That confirmed, Howard edged inside, nearer to the body thrashing around on the floor, still sobbing and calling out. Closer inspection revealed the figure to be a sleeping child of indeterminable sex. The ripped jeans and dirty sneakers pointed to it being a young boy, but the long straggly hair and elfin features, not to mention the downright girly display of whimpering on show, made it hard to be sure. Suddenly a loud shriek pierced the air.

"Aarrggghh, no, please, help me, somebody HELP ME."

Unconsciously, Howard found himself crouching down beside the crying figure, shaking it roughly by the shoulder, trying to put an end to the obvious nightmare.

"Shhh, it's ok, wake up, it's just a dream".

"Stay away from me, don't hurt me," the child yelled, scooting back against the wall, tears spilling from the most impossibly large blue eyes the northern boy had ever seen. Howard edged closer, wanting to try to comfort the strange young boy/girl.

"I mean it, stay away, I've got a knife," the sniffling figure cried, bloodshot eyes flashing dangerously, the effect spoilt somewhat by the tears that still flowed freely down the young face.

Unsure whether to take this last statement seriously or not, after all, he WAS in London now, Howard inched backwards, towards the doorway, just in case he needed to make a quick escape.

"I'm NOT going to hurt you," he reiterated, slightly exasperated, "I just want to know who you are and what you're doing in my shed."

"Your shed? It's MY shed, I've been coming here for ages, I've never seen you here before," cried the curious creature, indignantly. "I'm Vince, and this is MY place, so go away, you northern freak!"

His anger spent, Vince cowered in the corner, knees pulled tightly into his chest, as though awaiting a beating from the larger boy. Not being of an aggressive nature, Howard had no such plans and simply crouched down in the doorway, slightly depressed that, having only been in the city three days, he had already been called a freak. Staring at his shoes, he mumbled childishly,

"Actually I'm Howard Moon and I think you'll find it's my dad's shed. We just moved here and he's renting the allotment, which includes this shed, so you'll have to find somewhere else to play," adding cruelly, "We'll probably knock it down anyway, and if you're still inside, you'll get squashed!"

Vince looked up miserably, bottom lip trembling and voice barely a whisper as he croaked,

"But then where will I go? I like it here. It's quiet. People leave me alone."

Howard shrugged.

"Find another shed to play in." He felt a little bit cruel, taking away the kid's playhouse, but this was a place for he and his father to spend time together, not for some young child to use for his afternoon nap. And the child HAD called him a freak.

He stomped off, not sure whether leaving the small boy behind in the shed was entirely a good idea, but not having the heart to physically throw him out. He had to admit, his first encounter with his new London neighbours had not been entirely successful. Now he was really dreading school tomorrow. If even the young children were this strange, what were his classmates going to be like?


	2. Chapter 2

Grumpily, Howard rolled over and switched off the blaring alarm clock. Not that he'd needed an alarm to wake him, as he'd been anxiously watching the clock tick down the minutes for well over an hour. To say he was nervous was an understatement and he momentarily considered attempting to convince his mother that he was sick and should stay at home for a while. Like maybe the next four or five years. He grumbled to himself and he carefully stepped over the bags and boxes which still littered his floor and, pulling on an old threadbare dressing gown, he headed downstairs.

"Are you excited, dear?" his mother asked, looking up from the stove. Howard just grunted.

"Oh, don't be like that. I'm sure everything will be fine. Now, there's some tea in the pot so help yourself, and I've made pancakes for breakfast, nothing like a good breakfast to set you up for the day."

"Thanks, mum," Howard replied, flashing a grateful smile. He knew she was only trying to help, and pancakes were his favourite, but he failed to see how your breakfast choices could influence the day ahead. Still, they did look good, he noted as he tucked in.

As his mother finished ironing his uniform, he double checked the contents of his pencil case; 2 black pens, 2 blue pens, 2 red pens, 2 pencils, 2 sharpeners, 2 erasers, 1 ruler, which handily folded in 2 – well, it never hurt to be prepared, and what if someone borrowed a pen and it never came back, at least this way he'd have spares! A book, a notebook and his lunchbox and flask completed the contents of the shiny new schoolbag and he triple checked this to make sure everything was still there. Quickly throwing on his shirt, he wrestled with his tie for 5 minutes, until his mother came and rescued him (for some reason, he had never mastered the art of tie-wearing, and it was an art he was not particularly keen to pursue). Stepping back, she smiled in pride at her offspring, before giving him a quick kiss and sending him on his way.

If he was honest, Howard didn't really mind these shows of affection from his mother. They had always been a close family and even if he didn't have many friends, at least he knew he was loved at home. That said, he was extremely glad that she had saved the kissing for inside the house, and not decided to accompany him on the walk to school. That would have been social suicide!

Glancing around him, Howard hoped to himself that he could remember the way to the school, although he had allowed himself plenty of time, in case he took the wrong route. Stopping at the edge of the allotments, he looked briefly at the directions he'd written himself, just in case. 'Left at the allotments, right at the shops, and up the hill' confirmed he was headed in the right direction, so onwards he trudged, trying to ignore the sickening churning in his stomach as he got closer and closer to the school.

In reality, the school wasn't half as big as Howard had built it up to be in his mind. In fact, it was barely the size of the one he had attended, albeit for only a month, in Leeds. He was pleasantly surprised to find the main hall with no difficulty, quickly scanning the student lists to find out which class he was in and which room he needed to go to. Looking around, he discovered only a handful of children had already arrived, but then he supposed he was half an hour early, having been so scared he would get lost en route that he had allowed himself a ridiculous amount of time to find the place. He found the classroom equally easily and took a seat near the back, out of the way, and buried his nose in his book until the other students arrived.

As they in, Howard noticed awkwardly how small they all looked compared with him. Although only a year older, Howard was quite tall for his age and perhaps blending in with the other children without them suspecting anything wasn't going to be as easy as he had first thought. Thankfully, none of the other children even noticed him and for once Howard was grateful he had been blessed with such a generic looking face. Their form tutor, Mrs Cohen, a homely looking woman with a warm smile, welcomed them to the school and launched into a lengthy musing about how their school days would be the best of their lives. Howard found this hard to believe. After what seemed like an eternity, she was still talking, and Howard found himself distracted, looking around the classroom at the people who would be his classmates for the next few years. On the whole, they looked alright, small and excited, whispering among themselves, passing notes and sizing one another up. It was then Howard noticed the small boy near the front, messy mousey brown hair tied back in a short ponytail. As the boy gazed out of the window, Howard couldn't help but see how his clothes hung off him, as though his mother had just ordered them from the catalogue without giving any thought to how small her son actually was. Or perhaps she just hoped he'd grow into them? Certainly she hadn't been too bothered that the trousers were so long they had to be rolled up, or that the blazer was twice the width of his narrow shoulders. She hadn't even thought to make sure he brushed his hair before hurriedly tying it back, away from his face. The face Howard suddenly realised was so familiar. But how? How on earth was it possible that the tiny child he had met yesterday was in his class? He could barely be more than 8 or 9, surely? Howard was even more convinced of this fact as he watched the boy, (Victor? Vince? Yes, Vince, that was it) ruffle his hair and rub at his nose with his overlong sleeve. What on earth was he doing here?


	3. Chapter 3

After an overly long morning being given various rules and regulations of school life and finally a ten minute section, where they were finally given their timetable for the year, it was lunchtime. Choosing to eschew the hubbub of the canteen, Howard made his way outside to sit alone, reading, and eat his lunch in the relative peace of the playground. Sadly, the peace didn't last long. Suddenly there was a symphony of screeching, taunting voices and harsh laughs, as a higher pitched, younger sounding voice retorted,

"Give it back, now, or just you wait."

As Howard looked up to see a group or larger boys sneering holding a schoolbag high above their heads, a cannonball of furious energy charged headfirst into the largest boy, the one in possession of the pilfered school bag. Shocked, Howard realised the body hurtling toward the large boy was none other than Vince, tiny little Vince. The small boy's head made contact with the older boy's stomach, causing him to double over, and Howard could barely suppress a giggle at the look of triumph on Vince's face as he retrieved his bag and took off across the playing fields at breakneck speed. Moments later, the other boys set off in pursuit and Howard hoped nervously that the small boy would manage to avoid them for the remainder of lunch break as they didn't really look like the sort of people you would want to make enemies with. Unless Vince had been telling the truth about having a knife the previous day, then he was even more stupid than he looked, thought Howard to himself, as he turned his attention back to his book.

All too soon, the lunch break was over and Howard trudged back to the classroom, hoping that the afternoon would be more interesting than the morning had been. Whilst he wasn't exactly surprised when Vince wasn't there in time for afternoon registration (he didn't exactly look like the type to wear a watch), when he still hadn't shown up twenty minutes later, Howard guiltily wondered if the older boys had caught up with him. Vince was so tiny there was no way he would be able to defend himself against them.

After an exceptionally dull afternoon, Howard made his way home, glad to have got the first day of school out of the way. After quickly changing out of his school clothes and reassuring his mother that everything had been fine at school, he found himself once again wandering down by the allotments, enjoying spending some time alone after being surrounded by other children all day. As he approached the shed, he noticed the door was open and wondered, somewhat irritated, if Vince had left the door open last night when he had left. His dad would not be impressed if this was going to be a regular occurrence. As he got closer, he could make out the small figure curled up on the floor inside, tongue sticking out in concentration as he hunched over a sketch pad.

"Back again, eh?" Howard smiled, relieved to see that the boy looked relatively unharmed after his earlier altercation.

Vince gasped and scooted back against the wall, clutching his pad to his chest.

"I'm sorry, I had nowhere else to go and I needed somewhere to hide. I'll get out of your hair now."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Howard said gently, "I saw those boys chasing you earlier, I'm glad you got away, I was worried about you…" He reddened slightly as these last words escaped his mouth. True, he had been worried about the smaller boy, although he wasn't exactly sure why, Vince seemed to bring nothing but trouble, but he certainly hadn't meant to say this out loud.

"Thanks Howard, I'm fine, I may be small, but I'm fast – they had no chance of catching me," he beamed proudly, ruffling a hand through his hair, so it stuck out awkwardly. Howard noticed he had leaves and grass in his hair and a smudge of dirt on his nose and wondered to himself if Vince's method of escape had been to tunnel underground, like a mole?

"What?" frowned Vince at Howard's barely suppressed grin.

Howard reached out and removed the foliage from Vince's nest of hair, holding it out to show him.

"What did you do that for? They were _meant_ to be there. Fashion leaves. Don't you know anything about fashion?" pouted Vince, looking at Howard's own understated outfit in disdain. The older boy looked back, confused, at the oversized school uniform that Vince still wore, but decided not to pursue the matter.

"So Vince, other than hanging out in this shed, what else is there to do around here? Maybe you could show me around sometime?" he asked, quickly changing the subject.

Vince's face lit up as he offered Howard an impossibly wide grin, looking at the northern boy as if he had just given him free VIP tickets to see the Rolling Stones at Wembley, rather than the opportunity to show him the local area. Howard wondered if the young boy was every bit as lonely as he was. Perhaps he had found a friend after all, albeit a very strange one?

"Really? That would be great! There's a park down the road, it's ace, and a shop that sells sweets and ice cream and…er… there's not really much else around here, but I can show you those," he babbled excitedly, jumping to his feet, wincing slightly. Howard looked down and noticed the knee of Vince's school trousers was ripped, revealing an angry looking graze.

"What happened to your knee? It looks nasty. You should go home and get your mum to clean that up or it might get infected," he warned.

"S'fine. Doesn't even hurt much. I just fell when I jumped over a fence earlier. I'll get … my mum to clean it later. We're going to the park now!" he insisted, pushing past the larger boy and through the door.

Sighing, Howard followed behind. Why was everything always an argument with this kid?


	4. Chapter 4

Following Vince to the park he was so excited about, Howard was slightly surprised to notice they had turned on to his street and were about to walk past his house. All the streets and houses around here seemed to look the same and it was only by sheer luck that Howard hadn't found himself completely lost amongst dull grey streets yet.

"One second, Vince. This is my house, why don't we nip inside and grab you a plaster for your knee?"

Vince shrugged his scrawny shoulders and muttered something about staying outside while Howard ran in and got one.

"Don't be silly, come inside."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind," asked the small boy, uncertainly, pulling at the loose strands of hair that hung around his face.

"Mum, this is my friend, Vince, from school. He's cut his knee, can we grab a plaster?" greeted Howard, dragging the young boy inside behind him.

Glancing down at the dishevelled looking child, Mrs Moon smiled kindly.

"Ooh, that looks sore, Vince, let's get you cleaned up." Patting the worktop beside the sink, she started running some water into the bowl, adding some antiseptic.

"Come on, hop up here."

Vince looked up at the worktop, confused, but didn't move, so Mrs Moon lifted him, easily, and placed him down by the sink, rolling his trousers up to get a better look at the bleeding knee. As she gently set to work wiping away the dirt and blood, Vince let out a hiss.

"Sorry honey, I know it stings but it needs to be cleaned properly or else it might get infected, and you don't want that," she said soothingly as Vince bit his lip and averted his eyes. "It'll be over soon," she promised.

"All done," she announced a few minutes later, as she finished bandaging the injured knee, "doesn't that feel better?"

Vince nodded, jumping down from the worktop.

"Thanks Mrs Moon," he smiled gratefully before grabbing Howard's hand and dragging him towards the door, like an over-eager dog, desperate to go for a walk.

"Where are you going, boys? I hope you're not going back out, dinner will be ready soon. Does Vince want to stay?" she enquired, turning her attention back to the bubbling pan on the stove.

Howard looked at Vince, slightly confused as to how the smaller boy had gone from breaking into his dad's shed to being invited for dinner in a matter of days. Still, he wasn't exactly spoilt for choice when it came to friends, and his mother seemed to have taken quite a shine to the small child. Vince shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot in the doorway, playing with his hair, eyes on the floor.

"Vince? Do you want to stay?" Howard repeated his mother's question.

"Really? Can I?" Vince nodded enthusiastically, grinning widely, and once again Howard wondered how lonely the little boy must be to get so excited about such a simple invitation.

Minutes later, after a quick and overly loud phone conversation between Vince and his mother (perhaps she was a little hard of hearing?), they were seated at the imposing looking oak dining table, an heirloom inherited from her late mother and Mrs Moon's pride and joy. The smaller of the two boys was perched upon a pile of cushions, the chairs clearly having not been designed for those of a short stature and, Howard noted with amusement, he was still struggling to reach the table. It was soon proven, however, that what he lacked in height, he more than made up for in appetite. As soon as the steaming bowl of pasta was placed in front of the small child, he tucked in voraciously, stopping only when the bowl was half emptied to guzzle down his glass of juice before resuming his attack on the food.

"Slow down dear, you'll give yourself indigestion," Mrs Moon finally intervened, slightly amazed that someone so small could eat so much, but not wanting an angry phonecall from Vince's mum when the child ate so much he made himself sick.

"Sorry," mumbled Vince, reddening self-consciously, "I, er, missed lunch."

Noting the young boy's embarrassment, Howard stepped in, protectively.

"Don't worry about her, she just wishes she could still eat that much without it going straight to her hips," he joked, grinning and winking at his new friend.

"How dare you, Howard TJ Moon!" she cried in mock indignation, "You are no longer my favourite son!"

As the two bantered easily, they did not notice Vince eyeing the scene warily, as though expecting that any minute the tone could change and a fight could begin in earnest. He nervously played with his food and eyed up the doorway, ready to make a quick escape, should it be needed. His face fell as, noticing he was no longer eating, Mrs Moon had cleared away his bowl, which he took as a signal that he was no longer welcome and should leave. Heaving his scrawny arms against the table, he attempted to push his chair far enough away from the table that he could jump down from his mountain of cushions.

"Hey, where are you going, little man? Leaving before cake? You do like cake, don't you?" asked Mrs Moon, placing a huge chocolate and buttercream cake in the centre of the table.

Vince's eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at the cake in awe.

"Wow, yes, I _love_ cake," grinned Vince, quickly pulling his chair back in as he was served an impossibly large slice, which he immediately began devouring.

All too soon, the meal was over and Howard was sent out into the darkening night to walk the smaller boy home, despite the fact that the London-born boy was clearly more familiar with the local streets than her own son. Luckily it transpired that Vince lived a mere five minutes walk away. As they walked down another faceless street, Vince suddenly stopped and turned off down a long dirt track, and Howard could just about make out, at the end of it, a large unkempt-looking stone building, at odds with the well presented properties they had just walked past.

"You can leave me here, it's just down there," announced Vince, looking slightly uncomfortable as he pointed to the unwelcoming looking building.

"Er, are you sure?"

"Of course, it's not far. Thanks for the food, and for hanging out with me. I had a great time. See you tomorrow," he insisted, taking off at a jog before the taller boy could protest.

Watching the young boy disappear into the distance, Howard turned around to begin his thankfully short journey home, noting, as he did, a large road sign, pointing down the dirt track. Closer inspection revealed it to announce May View Children's Home. Children's Home? Confused, Howard continued walking, trying to make sense of what he had just seen. Did Vince live there? And if so, why did he not mention it before? In fact, hadn't he called his mother earlier? The building certainly didn't look like Howard's idea of a Children's Home, although, if he was quite honest with himself, he had never actually seen one before, or known anyone that hadn't lived with their parents. He remembered the scandal at his primary school when one of his classmates had announced her parents were getting divorced. Perhaps things really were different in London?


	5. Chapter 5

Howard woke to the sun filtering through his curtains and rolled over with a smile. Despite the boy's strangeness, he was looking forward to seeing Vince at school. Then he remembered the children's home, and his brow wrinkled. A sensitive and thoughtful child, Howard was unsure whether asking Vince about it would upset the little boy, certainly he hadn't volunteered the information willingly and had seemed decidedly uncomfortable as they had got close to the place he apparently called home.

With these thoughts racing around his head, he quickly got ready, ate breakfast and rushed to school. Once again arriving ridiculously early, he sat himself down at one of the empty desks and buried his head in his book, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive. Engrossed, he didn't notice the arrival of the other pupils and was startled to hear a small voice at the side of him.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?"

"No, of course not," Howard replied, looking up to see Vince's face fall.

"Oh, sorry, I just thought…" stammered the smaller boy, taking a step backwards, tears glistening in his eyes.

"I mean no, I don't mind," clarified Howard, patting the chair beside him, "Of course you can sit here." He offered the boy a warm smile, bemused by his nervousness and tendency to take everything as a rejection or a threat. Vince smiled shyly.

"Thanks, Howard. I didn't know if I'd be welcome. I mean, I saw you reading the sign, so now you know where I live…" the young boy tailed off as he chewed hit bottom lip, eyes down on the desk.

Howard reached into his school bag and pulled out a tupperware container, passing it to Vince.

"My mum thought you might want more cake. If not, I'll be eating it FOREVER." Howard rolled his eyes.

Vince's own eyes widened in horror.

"You didn't tell your mum, did you?"

"Um, no, not yet, but why does it matter?" Howard asked, genuinely confused, "I mean, she's going to find out soon enough, if we're going to hang out together."

"If she finds out, she won't let us hang out! Parents never want their kids to be friends with people like me. Please don't tell her! I did a big fake phonecall and everything, so she wouldn't know! Please Howard," the small boy begged.

Howard smiled as he remembered Vince's loud phone conversation with his 'mother' the previous evening, having not realised at the time that it was for their benefit. Looking at the young boy's pleading eyes, large and desperate, Howard agreed to the request.

"Ok, I won't tell. Just one thing… if you weren't calling your mum, who were you calling?" he enquired.

"Talking clock," shrugged Vince, with an embarrassed grin.

Once morning registration was over, the new friends headed to their first lesson, geography. Being a future man-of-action, this was one of Howard's favourite subjects and he listened eagerly, filling his page with notes. Halfway through the class, he remembered the boy sitting next to him and glanced over. To his surprise, Vince didn't seem to have written anything and had instead filled his page with a picture which, Howard noticed with shock, he was now adding to, using Howard's collection of coloured pens, which he had managed to liberate from his pencil case without being seen. Looking closer, Howard realised that the picture appeared to be a treehouse made out of bus tickets. A small child, not unlike Vince himself, sat in the treehouse, smiling brightly, and a leopard sat at the bottom of the tree. At least, Howard assumed it was a leopard, although it was coloured red with blue spots.

School was surprisingly enjoyable that day, and Howard was slightly disappointed when the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. He had liked having someone to sit next to and joke with. This must be what having friends was like, he thought to himself, with a small smile. As they filed out of the building, Vince looked at him hopefully.

"Can we go to the park now? I mean, if you want to? Unless you already have plans?" he added, his tiny fingers tugging nervously at his hair, something Howard noted he did a lot.

"Yeah, that sounds great," grinned Howard, enthusiastically. "We'll go home and get changed, and I'll meet you back at the allotments."

With a quick goodbye, Howard rushed home, changed, and headed back out to the shed. T_heir shed_, he thought, fondly. He was slightly surprised to see Vince sitting outside it, still in his ridiculously oversized school uniform, but decided not to mention it. The young boy jumped up with a relieved grin.

"You came!" he said happily, "I wasn't sure if you would."

"Of course I came, how else am I going to find this park of yours, eh?" Howard joked, surprised at how insecure Vince seemed to be. Although hardly brimming with confidence himself, Howard felt sure that he never seemed quite that needy. At least he hoped he didn't.

Skipping happily away from the allotments, clutching Howard's sleeve, the scruffy young child led the way to a large park, its gates and fences covered heavily in graffiti. Other than the two boys, it was completely empty, the swings, slides and roundabouts looking as though they had been there for so long that people had forgotten about their existence. It wasn't exactly the best park Howard had ever visited, in fact, it wasn't even in the top ten but with his new friend, Howard had to admit, he had a great time. Or at least he did until the rain started. He stared in amazement as Vince seemed not even to notice the downpour that was soaking his clothes and made his long hair stick to his face as he continued to giggle and swing higher and higher.

Finally he managed to drag Vince off the swing and they set off at a run towards Howard's house. He hadn't actually meant to drag the young boy back there for the second time in as many days but as he wasn't exactly disappointed when the child who seemed to stick to him like a limpet had followed him back there. Laughing, they burst through the kitchen door, dripping water everywhere.

"My goodness, look at the state of you two, you're soaking! Get changed before you catch your death of cold," tutted Mrs Moon, good naturedly. "There's a bag of your old clothes in my room, Howard. I meant to take them to the charity shop before we moved here but forgot. Hopefully there will be something to fit Vince in there. There's a children's home round the corner, remind me to drop the rest of them in there one day."

At this, Howard and Vince exchanged an awkward look, but said nothing, heading upstairs to dry off. To Howard's amusement, even the very smallest clothes in the bag were still too big for his little friend but they still fit Vince better than his school uniform did. A frown crossed Vince's tiny features as he held up a pile of jumpers.

"There's a lot of brown here, Howard. Ooh, I like these though."

He dropped the brown jumpers and held aloft a pair of red jeans, which Howard looked at in confusion, before remembering that they had once belonged to his cousin, Alice, who had stayed with them a few summers ago. Before he was able to tell Vince this, the small boy was gleefully peeling off his wet school trousers and tugging on the jeans.

"Wow, they're flared too! What do you think? Do they suit me?" he asked, strutting around the bedroom.

Whilst Howard thought they looked a bit ridiculous, he couldn't deny the fact that they probably fit Vince's skinny form a lot better than any of the other items in the bag, so he just nodded, wordlessly. Teaming the jeans with a black and white knitted jumper which almost reached his knees, he smiled at himself in the mirror and he towel dried his long, tangled hair, as Howard cleared up and put away the remainder of the clothes which, somehow, had managed to end up scattered all over his room. Clearly tidying up wasn't one of his new friend's strengths, he thought, with an amused shake of his head.


	6. Chapter 6

It was with some guilt that he realised he couldn't spend the weekend hanging out with his new friend but his father was finally coming down to join them in their new house and although still only a boy himself, Howard realised that it wasn't really appropriate for the small boy who had barely left his side in the past few days to be present for their reunion. Telling Vince had been one of the hardest things he could ever remember doing, the hurt shining out of those large blue eyes making him feel like some kind of traitor, like he'd double-crossed his best friend and sold him into slavery or sent him to a death camp, not merely told him they couldn't see each other for a couple of days. But then, this was Vince, and, as Howard had come to notice, his reactions weren't necessarily indicative of the seriousness of a situation. Even the strawberry bootlaces bought as a peace offering did little to console the young boy, who had spent most of the Friday afternoon lessons staring out of the window and sniffing loudly. Even his sketch pad was ignored! The neat line of pens that Howard would lay out for him before each class began, so that he didn't attract the teacher's attention by rifling through the pencil case partway through the lesson remained in an orderly row, untouched by the grubby but nimble little fingers of the budding artist.

By the time Howard reached his house on Friday night (the walk back having been spent in silence, although still in the company of his new shadow) Howard was quite beside himself with guilt and desperately racking his brain for some way to make it up to the little boy. Not being exactly an expert in friendships, Howard wondered if his mistreatment of the youngster was enough to end the relationship that had been slowly blossoming between them. As it transpired, the older boy needn't have worried as that evening his parents presented him with the ideal opportunity to cement his friendship with the young boy.

For many years, it had been a family tradition for the Moon family to visit the neighbouring Knaresborough Zoo in celebration of Howard's birthday. Although the zoo itself had clearly seen better days, Howard nonetheless felt an enormous sense of peace and perspective admiring the proud stance of the lion, the cheeky charm of the chimps, the wistful gaze of the elephant. He had, of course, assumed this tradition would now fall by the wayside, given that the zoo they had frequented was some 200 miles away but this would turn out not to be the case.

"So, Howard," began Mr Moon, as they sat around the large dining table following a particularly delicious meal, almost too full to move, "I've been thinking about your birthday and since you are going to be a teenager, I thought perhaps a change of scenery would be appropriate."

Howard nodded reluctantly. He knew it wasn't exactly practical for them to continue their birthday tradition, with the zoo being so far away, but it was yet another sign that he was growing up and things were changing and, although he had dealt with recent changes admirably, it still filled him with sadness to lose this final little piece of childhood.

"I've just noticed that there's a zoo in Colchester, much larger than 'old faithful' at Knaresborough, and a bit of a drive, but what do you say, shall we try it next weekend?" continued his father, with a grin.

"Really? Wow, yes!" enthused Howard, before realising how much he sounded like his young friend. Guiltily, he wondered if anyone had ever taken Vince to the zoo, or indeed if anyone ever helped Vince celebrate his birthdays at all. As if reading his mind, Mrs Moon, who had just returned to the table, carrying large bowls of raspberry ripple ice cream, joined in,

"Why don't you invite your friend, Howard? I've been telling Dad all about him and he's dying to meet him."

And so it was that a week later, Howard found himself waiting outside the house for Vince to arrive for their day out. It hadn't entirely been smooth sailing. His mother had insisted on speaking with Vince's mother before they took the young boy out for the day, and no amount of excuses from Howard had managed to distract her until eventually he had told her the truth, that Vince had no mother. He had then spent the rest of the week begging his mother not to say anything to Vince about his living arrangements, cringing every time his mother piled extra food on the boy's place on account of the fact he looked like he 'could do with a good home-cooked meal'. In addition to this, he had also asked his parents not to let Vince know it was his 13th birthday he was celebrating, as the young boy didn't know that he'd been kept back a year and Howard very much wanted to keep things this way.

Still, as Howard watched his young friend skipping happily down the street, shoelaces flapping, he considered that it had been worth all the stress. Vince was smiling widely, shuffling excitedly from foot to foot as they waited by the car as Mr Moon loaded a picnic into the boot. Howard noticed with amusement that Vince was once again wearing the red flares donated to him the previous week, in fact, with the exception of his school uniform, he had barely worn anything else! Today he had teamed them with a tight-fitting black t-shirt with a lion's head printed on the front in silver, and frilly sleeves, clearly designed for a little girl, rather than an 11 year old boy, a fact that had clearly escaped the strange little child.

Despite having managed to spill juice down his new cream t-shirt, the car journey over to essex had been great fun, playing I Spy and singing along with the car radio, but, as they neared Colchester, Howard suddenly realised that Vince had suddenly gone very quiet. Looking over, the small boy's eyes were wide (even wider than usual), and his hands clutched his stomach as he chewed his lower lip nervously.

"Hey, what's up?" Howard asked, concerned.

"Howard, I don't feel well, I don't feel well at all," Vince whimpered, a hand flying up to cover his mouth.

"Quick, pull over, NOW," shouted Howard to his father, recognising the signs of what was imminent.

As the car swerved to a halt, the young boy leapt from the car to vomit violently at the roadside. Within seconds Mrs Moon was by his side, holding his hair back and rubbing his back soothingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," sobbed the little boy as he was passed a packet of wet wipes to clean up.

"It's ok honey, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you got car sick. You should have told us and you could have sat up front, that used to help Howard when he got car sick when he was younger."

"I didn't know. I, er, I haven't really been in a car much before," he admitted miserably, snuggling into the woman's arms as she stroked his hair and tried to calm him down.

The rest of the journey passed uneventfully and as Howard rushed towards the payment kiosk, dragging his dad behind him, he didn't notice Vince hiding nervously behind his mum, clutching her hand tightly.

"Mrs Moon, are the animals really big in there? What if they don't like me?" whispered the little boy, as he fiddled with his hair.

"Well, some of the animals will be big, but you don't have to be scared, they can't hurt you, I promise," the older woman reassured him, "now come on, let's go catch the others up."

At the counter, Howard, who had been left in charge of his dad's wallet, proudly announced, "4 please, 2 adults, 2 children."

The lady behind the counter chuckled, as she rang up 2 adults and 1 child on the cash register.

"Um, that's only 1 child," corrected Howard.

"But under 10's are free, your sister doesn't have to pay," smiled the cashier, handing the change back to the newly teenage boy.

Howard opened his mouth to say something but his dad dragged him through the zoo's entrance. As he looked back at the small boy, who still gripped his mother's hand tightly, he couldn't exactly deny that Vince did look at least a little bit like a very young girl, especially in his current outfit!

Once they got inside, Vince's fears were quickly allayed as he ran from cage to cage, babbling excitedly to himself and anyone else who would listen. Including the animals. As Howard watched him closely, it seemed like the little boy actually thought he was having conversations with the animals and would nod thoughtfully as the animals 'replied'.

"Did he say anything interesting?" joked Howard as the young boy seemed to be listening intently to the chattering of the chimp who paced near the edge of the enclosure.

"He was telling me about the zoo keeper over there," Vince pointed. "Apparently he fell over yesterday and landed in a pile of elephant dung!" The young boy giggled.

Howard just smiled, puzzled but quickly growing used to Vince's wild flights of imagination. At that point his parents caught up with them.

"Enjoying yourselves?" they enquired.

"Yeah," grinned Howard, "Vince was just having a chat with the chimpanzee."

"You can talk to the animals, huh? Like Dr Doolittle," smiled his father.

"Maybe more like Mowgli," joined in his mother.

"In flares," added Howard, as they all began laughing.

Vince's bottom lip wobbled as his eyes flitted between the 3 laughing people. He smiled nervously before asking,

"Who's Mowgli?"

"From the Jungle Book? The film? Have you really never seen the film?" Howard asked incredulously.

Following this revelation, Mr Moon had insisted that they stop at the video library on the way home to borrow a copy of the movie. Later that evening the family had sat down with large slices of cake and played the video, the young boy grinning and singing along with the songs. As the day drew to a close and Howard lay in bed, he smiled as he reflected that this had probably been his favourite birthday ever. The zoo had been even better than the one they used to visit and he finally had someone he could call a friend. Just as he was drifting off to sleep a small voice interrupted from the campbed at the other side of the room.

"Howard? Are you asleep?"

"No Vince, what is it?"

"Mowgli's pretty cool isn't he?"


End file.
